4of 14This is the Tropical Bowl at Revolucion Coffee+Juice. Acai bowls are one of the eatery's specialties. Revolucion Coffee+Juice is located at 7959 Broadway.Photo: John Davenport, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

5of 14Açaí bowls such as the Chocolate (from left), Lavender and AB&J are featured menu items on the Rise Up food truck owned by John Farnel. The bowls are assembled in layers and anchored with a granola blend. They are topped with a variety of fruit.Photo: Edward A. Ornelas /San Antonio Express-News

6of 14Farnel’s food truck features the largest açaí bowl menu in the city with seven offerings.Photo: Edward A. Ornelas /San Antonio Express-News

7of 14This is the Matcha Bowl at Revolucion Coffee+Juice. Acai bowls are one of the eatery's specialties. Revolucion Coffee+Juice is located at 7959 Broadway.Photo: John Davenport, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

During a yearlong stay in Brazil, it didn’t take long for Andrea Prada to discover her love for a native fruit: the açaí berry, which would quickly become a cherished staple of her diet.

The berries were popular on the beach as a refresher, commonly served in cafe fruit bowls and even mixed into nightlife cocktails such as the famous Brazilian caipirinha.

“They were everywhere,” Prada said. “Açaí was almost a daily thing.”

So it was with a great delight when the St. Mary’s student discovered three years after returning to San Antonio that the Brazilian staple was slowly creeping into the local food scene in the form of nutritious açaí bowls with so much color they beg to be Instagrammed.

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Eat the Rainbow

When it comes to any diet, San Antonio nutritionist Sarah Treat says the more color the better. And foods that thrive in harsher climates are more likely to contain the good stuff. Here are some of the target color “superfoods” to seek out outside the realm of the almighty Açaí berry:

Green

Best bets: Wheat grass, spinach, kale, avocado and lettuce varieties

Benefits: Antioxidants that are good for vision, strengthen bones and brains.

Treat’s take: “Greens are always the base. If you don’t do anything else, get your four cups of these daily and you’ll see results.”

Red

Best bets: Beets, goji berries

Benefits: Beets are a fiber and potassium powerhouse with cancer-fighting agents, while goji berries can help with diabetes and high-blood pressure.

Treat’s take: “Beets are trendy with a rich red color. You need beets. They can be found in a lot of juices, but they are wonderful baked.”

Orange

Best bet: Sweet potatoes

Benefits: Loaded with fiber and beta carotene.

Treat’s take: “Sweet potatoes are really a hidden gem. Swap out for a regular potato in most recipes.”

Yellow

Best bet: Turmeric (spice)

Benefits: Too many to mention, but a serious challenger to Açaí as the best.

Treat’s take: “This one is here to stay and your top anti-inflammatory. Cook it. Drink it. Use it.”

Blue-Indigo-Violet

Best best: Blueberries

Benefits: Good for cardiovascular system and eye health.

Treat’s take: “When fruits produce this deep and unique of a color, you know it’s filled with the good stuff.”

Açaí (pronounced ah-say-EE) berries are similar to standard grapes in size but enriched with a deeper purple coloring. They are harvested from the açaí palm trees native in rain forest climates of the northern portions of South America, Trinidad and slivers of Central America.

About 10 years ago, the fruit was studied and identified as an antioxidant-rich “superfood,” with groups claiming it can improve everything from vision and heart health to rejuvenate skin and even reverse the aging process when consumed regularly. In a 2008 episode of the “Oprah Winfrey Show,” açaí was touted as the healthiest food in the world.

“They contain anthocyanins, which are vital nutrients and you can’t get them in any sort of vitamin form,” said clinical nutritionist Sarah Treat, owner of Local Health Market. “They fight all the bad stuff we put in our body. The more antioxidants you ingest, the more it cleanses you.”

Don’t bother trying to find the berries in their purest form — you won’t find them in the United States. Açaí berries have such a high fat content they go rancid within 48 hours of being picked. Even in Brazil, they are usually freeze-dried or pureed into a frozen pulp and separated into individual bags.

The exported açaí bags (packaged in assortments of 3.5-ounce blocks) are combined with other ingredients and blended until they take on an ice cream consistency.

After that, it’s all about experimentation.

Coconut and nut milks often are used to increase the creaminess and flavor profile, and various fruits, vegetables, granola, grains and other members of the “superfood” family such as hemp seeds, goji berries and flaxseed can be found in the various açaí bowls.

And with most bowl recipes averaging 300 to 350 calories and capping out at 600 if you opt for nut butter variants, it’s the type of meal replacement that can trim waistlines.

Angie Carral, local owner of Revolucion Coffee + Juice, first discovered açaí bowls in California. She combined the berries with fruits and vegetables she had for cold-pressing juices and introduced açaí bowls in the city in 2015.

There are currently two açaí bowls on the menu, and they account for about 10 to 15 percent of her business. One of them, the Açaí Green, has a decadent texture that belies the healthy stuff.

“My niece … thinks it’s ice cream,” Carral said. “It tastes like a custard, and you can mask the veggies and the super foods in it.”

Meanwhile, entrepreneur John Farnel is betting big on açaí bowls as the featured attraction of Rise Up, which is run out of an artsy refurbished Airstream food trailer on Broadway near Brackenridge Park.

Farnel’s inspiration came in two forms.

One was the research and recipes from his sister, Stephanie Brown, who had opened a health food store in Midland that features açaí bowls.

The other was a deep understanding of social media. While taking classes at St. Edward’s University in Austin, he regularly walked by the famous “I love you so much” mural phenomenon in Austin on the wall outside Joe’s Tacos.

“There was always this line around the block of people wanting to take those pictures,” said Farnel, who uses his own Instagram account (@riseupsatx) as the primary driver for business. “I figured if I can get people to post in front (of the trailer) and identify that side of social media with our product, we would be good to go. Hopefully they love the food, too.”

Like Revolucion, Rise Up sells cold-pressed juices and smoothies, but features the largest açaí bowl menu in the city with seven offerings, including a top-selling chocolate bowl that mixes the açaí pulp with almond milk, almond butter, cacao, strawberries, agave and blueberries.

Farnel assembles the bowls in layers like a lasagna, anchoring it with a granola blend and mixing in the açaí in stages before adding the toppers.

All are pieces of foodie art and scream to be photographed and shared. “The Lavender” bowl even has a topper of the colorful flowers.

And business has been good. Farnel is looking to add a brick-and-mortar location inside an old Alamo Heights liquor store. He may even relocate the Airstream to get a share of the competitive Austin Açaí bowl market.

“I originally wanted to start the trailer in Austin, but it was cost prohibitive,” Farnel said. “San Antonio has been a great place to start, and it’s awesome to be a big part in introducing these bowls to the city.”

Both Farnel and Carral said to expect growing and changing bowl options. That’s exciting news for San Antonio açaí enthusiasts, such as Prada.

“It’s definitely a trend,” she said. “There’s no reason for it to go away either, because it’s healthy and can be that breakfast, lunch or dinner. Whatever you need it for. The perfect meal replacement.”

Or you can make your own. The frozen açaí packs are locally available at Whole Foods and H-E-B Central Market, as well as select World Market locations and online health food outlets.

But be forewarned: “You better have a good blender and it takes a lot of muscle to get the right consistency,” Carral said. “That’s why we’re here — to make it simple.”

Chuck Blount is an award-winning journalist with over 15 years in the field. His weekly poker column is internationally syndicated and has appeared weekly since 2005. In addition to writing duties, he is also an assistant sports editor.

Prior to the Express-News, he was a sportswriter for the Idaho Falls Post-Register, covering Idaho State athletics and high schools. He is a 1998 University of Iowa graduate.